Cousteau's mythic ship left to rot in family feud

[zerogara]

One of the most known boats all around the world. What a shame!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060122/lf_afp/franceshipenvironment

[trouty]

is about all I can say.

I would say a lot more (bout the family) - but it would be negative - and I think anyone who has ever sucked air underwater from a scuba bottle thru a regulator owes both Cousteau & Gagnon a deep gratitude of respect...

There is no doubt that Scuba diving and underwater exploration in the world today owes those two a great deal. J Cousteus shows certainly shaped my formative years...and I hum to myself Denvers Calypso song, as I was reading that sad sad article.

Cousteaus (Father & Son) must be turning in their graves as they see what has become of her.

Is there nothing good left is world any longer?

Cheers!

[RANCHI OTTO]

There is a Cousteau museum in Monaco...isn't ?

Prince Albert, buy the Calypso and ....

Money is not a problem for you...

[dougfrolich]

Sad,Sad,Sad!!!

Eight Bells.

[dougfrolich]

I second Ranchi Otto!!!

[MarkC]

and I think anyone who has ever sucked air underwater from a scuba bottle thru a regulator owes both Cousteau & Gagnon a deep gratitude of respect...


NO - no they dont. I am not so sure he is the 'hero' he is made out to be.

from the Melbourne (Australian) newspaper 'The AGE'

Surfacing at last: the story of Australia's father of scuba
By Chee Chee Leung
September 1, 2003

The late French explorer Jacques Cousteau was known as the father of modern diving but, contrary to the belief of many, he did not invent the single-hose regulator used by scuba divers today.

Instead, that honour belongs to 82-year-old retired engineer Ted Eldred, who lives in the country town of Yarck near Mansfield, and whose contribution to diving has received attention in recent months.

The Historical Diving Society of South-East Asia Pacific started the annual Ted Eldred award for services to diving history in Australia - he was the inaugural recipient - and Melbourne author Jeff Maynard has just published a book that features the inventor's story.

"Everyone talks about Cousteau as the father of modern diving, but the equipment that we currently use is not the twin-hose regulator that was invented by Cousteau (and French engineer Emile Gagnan)," society president Bob Ramsay said

"The equipment that most divers use is a single-hose regulator, and the first commercially marketed single-hose regulator in the world was made by Ted Eldred in Melbourne."

The Eldred invention, named the Porpoise, first appeared on the market in 1952 after four years of development in workshops in North Melbourne and Fitzroy.

It proved to be more efficient than the twin-hose regulator, known as the Aqua-Lung, and was chosen as the standard diving equipment for the Royal Australian Navy a year later. From then on, according to Mr Eldred, "it went like bushfire".

The Breathing Appliance Company was formed and Australian sales grew. International recognition soon followed after British author Arthur C. Clark, of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame, praised the Porpoise in his book about the Great Barrier Reef, The Coast of Coral .

The company expanded until it had up to 15 employees and was producing 600 units a month. But in 1960, after struggling to raise capital to afford a patent, Mr Eldred and his partner sold their company to French firm Air Liquide, which owned the patent to Aqua-Lung.

"A representative of Air Liquide knocked on my door and said 'We want to discuss us buying you out'," he said.

"It was suggested if you don't sell, we'll flood the country with cheap equipment and just put you out of the market. I sold out. I just paid my debts and walked away from it with nothing."

Mr Eldred worked as a manager with the new company for 18 months before continuing his career as a freelance consultant in various fields, including 15 years in the aircraft industry. He made his last dive in the 1980s.

While there are regrets over losing ownership of his regulator design, Mr Eldred says there was nothing he could do about his inexperience.

"I'm an engineer, not a bloody salesman," he said. "(But) I suppose it's nice to realise that you led the world for a period of time, and I was way out there in front."



http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/08/31/1062268475963.html?from=storyrhs

[MarkC]

Ted Eldred, unfortunately, passed-away in 2005.

On the 26th August 2005, Australia lost one of its great engineers, when Ted Eldred passed away at his country home in Victoria. He was the inventor of the Australian made “PORPOISE” scuba equipment. Ted had been smitten by the underwater world, prior to WW2 and here is what he wrote recently about those early years of his diving career...


http://www.divetheblue.net/article.php?id=1022

He had written a book - (which I cant find at the moment) - in that book, I believe, he discusses the links that Jaques Cousteau had with the company that wrested the patent away from him. He makes it clear he was threatened. I was blown-away by this news - as a child I watched everything that Cousteau had done - I respect him and his crew no longer.

[Vega]

[QUOTE=MarkC] I am not so sure he is the 'hero' he is made out to be.

Even if everything you say is true, that has nothing to do with Cousteau or his life and doesn't diminish the stature of a great man, neither his contributions to science and to the global perception of maritime environment.

[MarkC]

Even if everything you say is true, that has nothing to do with Cousteau or his life and doesn't diminish the stature of a great man, neither his contributions to science and to the global perception of maritime environment.


Yes it does reflect on Cousteau - his business dealings (behaviour) certainly does.

What then were his contributions to science?? If he did not invent the regulator then why could he claim he did?

The global perception of the maritime environment! - well he wasn't the only one. Please don't forget that ©Cousteau was firstly a business - to sell films - and I also think he received STATE FUNDING from the French Government and would not discuss the issue of French Neuclear Testing in the Pacific for fear of losing his funding.

These issues do diminish the statue.

[trouty]

Cousteau and Gagnons 2 Hose / Single stage, "Aqua Lung" were first, period.
Accordingly - History accords them the accolades.
Yes the modification to a single hose two stage wass an improvement, no doubting that and the fact the fellow who modified it didn't make a gazzilion is sad - but that wasn't Cousteaus doing - it was a French company..OK?.

If your looking for an Aussie underwater hero - you need look no further than Jack Sue (who best I know still draws breath today at 80 something)!

Cheers!

[Milan]

I never heard that Cousteau claimed invention of single hose apparatus? On the contrary, each time when he talked about his and Gagnan's invention he talked about twin - hose type. But single or twin are relatively minor differences, what was really original, great and of timeless value in Cousteau and Gagnan's patent was hole new concept of providing air on demand and ambient pressure! That is what really made autonomous systems practical. (There was already autonomous pressurised air apparatus invented at the and of XIX century by French engineer which worked reasonably well but it was very wasteful of air supply as air was provided under the constant pressure in continuous flow).

By the way, Cousteau's divers continued using twin hose system long after the single hose became accepted norm. (Take a look at the documentaries from Alcyone expeditions in the 80's). They also didn't use trim west.

As for the help from French government, in early years he got support from the French Navy. He and some other team members were navy officers after all. His diving team was best what France and world had at the time. They made a lot of pioneering experiments and tested and developed lot's of diving equipment. Among other activities for the navy they cleared many Second World War minefields around French harbours, made some dangerous experiments about effects of under water explosions on the divers physiology, pioneered deep saturation dives, e.c.t. As for direct governmental contracts they did a lot of oceanographicall and geological research.

As for nuclear testing, Mark, I think you got that one wrong. He was against it, even organised a complete expedition to research envinronmental effects of nuclear testing in Morora. There was at least one long documentary about that expedition. Devastation on the bottom and damage to the coral was very clear. Measuring of radiation of water samples and marine wild life didn't gave conclusive results against testing but he was still clearly against it, although he didn't say that very explicitly. He also spoke against the renewal of experiments years later.

[MarkC]

No - I believe Cousteau was very connected to Air Liquide. If I can find Ted Eldred's book...

[trouty]

I think you'll find that Cousteaus association with Air Liquide was well after the aquisition of Porpoise.

I don't believe anyone can take away from Cousteau - what he and his boys achieved.

Cheers!

[MarkC]

Cousteau spoke out about neuclear testintg - Yes and No.


Cousteau out of his depth?

Jacques Cousteau sailed the Calypso into the troubled waters of the Tuamotu Archipelago in June 1987. He had the French government's blessing to explore and investigate the effects of the French nuclear testing program in and around the atoll of Moruroa, and to assess any environmental damage done in the area. Although some of the same restrictions in movement were placed on his group as on earlier scientific visitors, Cousteau's study was widely regarded as the best opportunity for a realistic assessment of effects of 20 years of French nuclear testing on the ecology of the area.

The famous scientist's "thorough survey," however, lasted only five days--and translated into less than 20 minutes of videotape. The Cousteau Odyssey episode, "Water on Fire," also contains features on hatching turtles, fishing dogs, an active underwater volcano, the ancient Polynesian fortresses in the Australs, and the parking problem in Tahiti.

As it turned out, Cousteau's activities on Moruroa were unremarkable. They included sending divers down to examine a barge sunk in the lagoon 22 years earlier, and the sampling of lagoon water well after the time necessary for the greater part of radiation from an explosion to have been washed out to sea. One sequence, which showed a water geyser rising 200 feet in the air during a nuclear test, did confirm the Polynesian suspicion that venting occurs at the site.

Cousteau's divers were shown exploring the underwater slope of the south coast of the atoll. Despite official French assurances to the contrary, the divers, who went down to a depth of only 60 meters, found the slope full of cracks and holes.

But the Cousteau team failed to explore below this depth, and therefore could not confirm--or deny--the damage which is surmised to have occurred at much greater depths. Without a submarine for deep exploration, Cousteau could not locate the many drums of irradiated materials that have been dumped into the sea nor could he determine what has happened to their contents.

Cousteau also failed to investigate the degree to which the fish and crustaceans in the area have become poisonous, a task which required no diving apparatus or sophisticated equipment.

In all, Cousteau's visit might more properly be described as a sightseeing tour than a scientific investigation. His assurance in November 1988 that his study in the lagoon failed to find "any radioactivity that might be dangerous for the Polynesian people" was immediately taken up by the French government. La Dépêche, a Tahitian newspaper that follows official French government policy closely, crowed:

"A negative judgment by a person of [Cousteau's] reputation would have created a serious problem for France. His verdict that 'there is no danger' is particularly important, as he cannot be suspected of compromising with his principles, and the prospects are therefore good that also here in French Polynesia the barren debate whether the tests are harmful or not will cease. Cousteau has taken all the samples he wanted, he has dived wherever he wished, and has made all the measurements he deemed necessary. His 'green light' should therefore silence the voices of the often partial and dishonest individuals who criticize the Moruroa tests."



http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=mar90danielsson

[nevadamike]

If Cousteau and family did nothing more, they brought the oceans of the world to a public that might not ever have bothered. French gov't? Say what you will... They helped us (USA) out a time or two when we needed it. Yes I know we've repaid that debt. But the fact remains that the Cousteaus' accomplishments are important to us all. That's as liberal as I can get. Mike.

[MarkC]

I believe the allegation was that when Cousteau and Air Liquide realised that Ted Eldred couldn't get funding in Australia, they saw an opportunity to take the invention and make money (instead of investing money with Ted Eldred).

But I guess that happens in business everyday. Just a pitty that it was another Australian invention that was lost, and there were more people to blaim than just the french company and co.

I believe that C. had claimed development of the single-hose regulator - perhaps that was further development.

Perhaps I am too harsh - Cousteau probably couldnt fight Miterand in regard to neuclear testing. Bombs and Boats come to mind...

[RANCHI OTTO]

To judge the Capt. Cousteau regarding patents...
I remember only an unique man and his documentaries about the sea...
Thanks Captain !

[kach22i]

Some have suggested the Calypso should be towed out to sea and scuttled. It could then be used as a training area for deep-sea divers. Compared to yet more legal wrangling and years of painful decay, it could prove to be the more fitting end.

Sounds like a good idea, sad end, sad story.

[safewalrus]

Say what you will Capn. Cousteau was a remarkable man, wether he invented the aqualung or not it takes guts to use it! For this he should be remembered with pride (and is) for what he did!

Why is it necessary to destroy every great man - is it because lesser mortals wish to pretend that they are to the same level! Unfortunately they never will be!

[MarkC]

Why is it necessary to destroy every great man

No it is not destruction it is simply removing his deification - its it more important to examine exactly what he did. Who helped him to be where he was, who was responsible for what - a healthy dose of honesty.

[zerogara]

Imagine how many great men come to life and go and never receive any publicity, the chance for many people to get to know them.
There must be some kind of quality that comes with publicity that has nothing to do with character.
As Brooklyn Italians say, "who died and made you boss"!

[Wellydeckhand]

Cousteau documentaries educate alot of Asian children in the process of adulthood dreams......molding some of them into responsible people that care for the Asian sea environment..

Patent or no patent..... His work need to be understand and his contribution our sane mind be regard....... Still wat a pity on the legendary ship....... gonne sell scape....... maybe I can buy it with my pocket money ye?:)